Staff at Timaru’s Redruth recycling plant were shocked this week when they discovered a wild pig carcass which had been placed in a yellow recycling bin.
The pig carcass revealed itself to staff working on the centre’s conveyor belt after it rose to a sorting platform, accompanied by milk bottles, cans and normal recyclables.
Staff – who use their hands to separate the recycling – were shocked by the sudden appearance of the pig, which had been dead for some time.
Timaru District Council senior waste management officer Ruth Clarke said while the council is happy for dead animals to be processed by the waste management system, they should be placed in the green-lidded organic materials bin, not the recycling.
“We have to remember that in the recycling process, staff are actually handling the material that is placed in yellow bins. It is disgusting for them to have to deal with dead animals,” Ms Clarke said.
She said the pig was probably placed in the recycling bin through “ignorance, or a silly, cruel joke” and the yellow bin was for recyclables such as paper, cardboard and tin cans, and “certainly not for pigs”.
Timaru vet Bryan Gregor was concerned that the pig had been recycled, saying a number of health risks could result.
He said a number of diseases could be caught from wild pigs, including campylobacter, salmonella, and tuberculosis.
“As the carcass has to be handled by staff at the materials recovery … it is obviously causing the potential for them, or anyone else handling the recyclable material, to become infected,” he said.
The council expected to be able to locate the origin of the pig and inquiries were continuing, Ms Clarke said.
This isn’t the first time an animal carcass has been incorrectly disposed of – two years ago a dismembered horse led to calls for the community to adhere to clearly and well-publicised guidelines regarding the disposal of animals.
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